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Sunday, February 28, 2016

Engine fire suspected for RMAF C-235 ditching

Engine failure has been suspected to be the cause of ditching by a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) C-235 tactical transport plane on Friday morning, local time.

The crew successfully ditched the aircraft, 10 minutes after taking off from the Subang Airbase in Shah Alam, at a shoreline in Kuala Selangor.

The aircraft landed 100 m meter from the shore and all the eight crew members onboard survived the incident with minor injuries.

Images indicate the wreckage on fire but has not been confirmed to be whether a pre or post crash fire.

The crew members were rescued from the burning aircraft by local fisherman and were then transported to the Subang Airbase by a EC725 helicopter.

The aircraft was part of five aircraft formation on a flypast rehearsal sortie along with a C-130 Hercules airlifter and a Beechcraft B-200T, as a part of RMAF Squadron Colours award ceremony scheduled for Monday.

RMAF said the wreckage will be salvaged to aide the investigation to determine the cause of crash.

Malaysia operated eight of these Airbus Military/CASA CN-235 airlifters in maritime patrol, surveillance, and air transport roles before crash.

Powered by two General Electric GE CT7-9CE turboprop engines rated at 1,750 shp each, the CN-235 is able to cruise at altitudes up to 25,000ft, and speeds up to 245kt / 454 km/h, while retaining remarkable low level flight characteristics, as well as short take-off & landing (STOL) capabilities.